HazBeen

Have been working on the Streamer, unfortunately it looks as if the broken off headstock will not work as a basis for the new headless. I will most likely build up from Wenge “left overs” I have. I have plenty to make a stable “graft”

This one is now 100% complete and working well. So full attention to the Streamer. The key challenge will be routing the bridge and tuner knob recesses as the body is curved. But I have already sussed out how to do that without issues.

Looks pretty good!

Look what just arrived from the wonderful @Andre_Passini Soon I will have 2 basses sporting Nova hardware

Just parking this one here…… if you followed my tandem build thread you will remember I took the Thunderbird pickups out of my Bogart. Tonight I routed the Bogart body to fit a PJ config and made a new pickguard. Just waiting on a new battery box to be delivered and will then add a Noll TCM4XM pre to the Geezer setup. I need this done so I can focus on the Streamer.

Get it. I would very much have preferred it to not be the case, but the brake was pretty bad to start with so reglueing would have been far from ideal. This way I can keep the soul of the original, but fix it so that it is actually ready for the next 37 years…

BTW, it was 3.7kg to start. I imagine we can knock it down to 3.6kg.

Appreciate the suggestion. The old Streamer body is too slim to chamber anything realistically, but I do not think it will be any issue. The Nova bridge is very light, lighter than the Schaller roller bridge it originally had. Add to the the recess I will need to make (probably) in the body to create proper access to the tuning knobs and I am 99% sure balance will not be an issue.

Slow beginnings…… Frets are almost dead, so will do a refret (assuming I can do the fix). Frets came out without too much fuss. Also made a small start in getting the neck ready for the new “head” to be glued on. Mainly to check there are not further hidden cracks. I will make the angle even shallower to ensure I have as much surface areas as I can for the glue up, but need to know how the hardware sits to get it spot on.

Ordered a headless bridge/string clamp from Nova.

So one of the really great features of a pre 1996 Wick is the removable trussrod. That means I can - very carefully - graft on what will be the headless “head” without taking the fretboard off.

Not ready to give up on this one yet….. the plan should work

So I came home today to this……. (See pics) My 1984, serial 067 Streamer headstock (it was a glued repair) has miraculously let go…. The body has a minor dent at the bottom from my guitar rack, and obviously the bass is beheaded. Like Gibsons, the early Streamers were prone to breakage due to not having a volute. The break was pretty ugly and repaired by a monkey, but the bass sounds wonderful and glue is stronger than wood. So I used it quite often, never an issue. But since it has let go and I will probable never be able to sell anyway, I have hatched a cunning plan….. I could replace a large part of the top of neck and headstock with new wood, add some splines ….. basic traditional Gibson-esque surgery. But I am going to do something else….. I am going to use the wood of the headstock, graft that in place (keeping serial number intact) and turn the bass into a (semi) headless! Will post the plan/design here soon. But the plan is to go from beheaded to headless, using mostly original wood.

I wish Kiss would just say farewell….. Kiss Off so to speak.

I have to admit I had to look a Mako up, yeah I see what you are saying. Although this is more traditional/conventional (in my view) due to not having an offset body. The design was in part inspired by a G&L SB2, with a P bass meets modern Single Cut. 3.7kg, so pretty decent.

Need to solder a few last bits and clean the chrome and we are done!

CA glue, no brainer. Will solve it 100%.

6 on! Now we let it dry for a few days, then put it together.

2 coats and counting

I thought about doing it, but my magnets are all used up and since I do have screws I am going to fix in place with 1 screw. For the pic it was just placed in position, smoke and mirrors

Pretty happy, neck attached to correctly place bridge. And just fit the tunes etc for fun. Going to be a sweet bass….. Put the strings and remaining hardware on top to weigh it = 3.6kg. Oil finish weighs nothing, so pretty close to end weight I’d say.

Shielding done and neck ferrules in too….! Basically just a shed load of sanding to do now and finishing with oil.

And 1 Bubinga headstock cap and trussrod cover …. Check! intentionally left the cap sit a little proud, I think it looks really cool that way.

Consensus I think is natural, and also has me preference. Nice, saved myself some work there

So the question is……. What to do with the body. Initially I thought about staining it black. Maybe doing a black burst and then finishing with lacquer. But the more I look at the alder - it is quite figured for Alder - I am thinking oil finish/ no extra colour. With the dark neck, a light body is quite nice. And for sure no pickguard methinks. I have never done an oil only finish on alder before. Pls note sanding is still only up to 80/120 grit at the moment. Open to audience opinions and ideas 😂